" This
revolution of thought, or fancy, on the lover's part, is intended to
induce a similar one on the part of the reader- to bring the mind into
a proper frame for the denouement- which is now brought about as
rapidly and as directly as possible.
With the denouement proper- with the Raven's reply, "Nevermore,"
to the lover's final demand if he shall meet his mistress in another
world- the poem, in its obvious phase, that of a simple narrative, may
be said to have its completion. So far, everything is within the
limits of the accountable- of the real. A raven, having learned by
rote the single word "Nevermore," and having escaped from the
custody of its owner, is driven at midnight, through the violence of a
storm, to seek admission at a window from which a light still
gleams- the chamber-window of a student, occupied half in poring
over a volume, half in dreaming of a beloved mistress deceased. The
casement being thrown open at the fluttering of the bird's wings,
the bird itself perches on the most convenient seat out of the
immediate reach of the student, who amused by the incident and the
oddity of the visitor's demeanour, demands of it, in jest and
without looking for a reply, its name. The raven addressed, answers
with its customary word, "Nevermore"- a word which finds immediate
echo in the melancholy heart of the student, who, giving utterance
aloud to certain thoughts suggested by the occasion, is again startled
by the fowl's repetition of "Nevermore.
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